


I Should Have Skated Away // I Would Have Followed You Anyway

by theartisticfoxx



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: (minor) - Freeform, (mostly angst lmao), Alex Mercer Has Anxiety (Julie and the Phantoms), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Compliant, Emotional Manipulation, Evil Caleb Covington, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Manipulation, Mutual Pining, POV Alternating, POV Multiple, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26886592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theartisticfoxx/pseuds/theartisticfoxx
Summary: The Orpheum performance wasn't Alex, Luke, and Reggie's unfinished business. That much was clear when they teleported back to Julie's garage and had to deal with those electric shocks from Caleb's curse.Julie is able to fix this, somehow. Everyone's happy, too....well, almost everyone. Alex tries to be happy, but something's stopping him. That something is none other than Willie, the boy that skated right into his heart (and him, literally).
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Flynn, Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer & Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn & Julie Molina, Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), mentioned
Comments: 66
Kudos: 221





	1. The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter one takes place at the end of S1 Ep 9. The other chapters will all take place after, making it post-canon.  
> Please do enjoy! I spent a lot of time making this, and I hope that you enjoy. :)

After their performance at the Orpheum, Alex, Reggie, and Luke vanished from the stage and reappeared in Julie’s garage. They had felt that they weren’t crossing over, so they fell back to Plan B, which was that they would go to Julie’s garage. After all, Julie would go straight to bed after the performance. Alex thought otherwise, but it wasn’t like they had another plan.

When they appeared in the garage, everything was fine for a moment. That feeling of peace was quickly replaced by fear and pain when that awful electric jolt surged through the three of them. They collapsed, hitting the concrete floor.

They lay there for what felt like an eternity, waiting for the pain to stop or for whatever lies beyond being dead. No words were spoken, because how could one talk when they were being violently shocked through their very core? They knew each other so well, though, that they didn’t need words to know how the others were feeling: Scared.

“I…” Julie’s voice cut through the silence like a knife. When did she come in? The hours seemed to blend, and none of the boys had ever heard the door open. “I know I’ve already said this, but, uh…” She paused and let out a shaky breath. “Thank you, guys.” Things got quiet again, and the darkness was beginning to feel heavy and constricting.

“...You’re welcome,” Reggie whispered, attempting to grin, not that anyone could see it in the dark. Alex groaned and tried to smack him for blowing their cover and ruining the moment, but he ended up just pushing his hand into Reggie’s face with no power behind it.

“Dude.” Luke elbowed Reggie in the side. There was a scuffling sound, and then the lights turned on. Alex groaned again and covered his eyes with his arm. The three of them must have been a pitiful sight, practically piled on top of each other and weakly coughing every so often.

Julie saw them, confusion was written all over her face. She started to ask the boys something, but she was cut off when they all felt that jolt again. Once it was over, she spoke. “I thought you crossed over. Why didn’t you cross over?” Julie was close to tears, obviously distressed from seeing her friends in pain. She thought that they had just needed to do their unfinished business, which was playing at the Orpheum, so why didn’t they cross over?

“I guess playing at the Orpheum wasn’t our unfinished business,” Alex said as he sat up, a hand clenched over his chest as if that would somehow stop the pain from flaring up again.

“Point Caleb.” Reggie leaned against an armchair, looking utterly exhausted and defeated. A heavy silence hung in the air, the atmosphere turning grim when the realization set in that Julie couldn’t help her friends. The one time that they needed help, and she couldn’t do anything about it. This is unfair! They’ve already died once, why do they have to die again, she thought.

“We wanted you to think that we crossed over, so we pretended to,” Luke admitted, looking up at Julie before quickly looking away, ashamed. “We had nowhere else to go.”

“We thought you’d go straight to bed.” Reggie lifted his head off of the chair to look at Julie. He wanted to say something funny, something to lighten the mood like he always could, but he just felt so tired. He felt like if he couldn’t even make someone crack a smile, then what was the point? 

“Yeah, well-” Alex coughed as he stood, leaning against an amp for support. “I knew she’d come out here, but nobody ever listens to me.” His attempt at a joke went unnoticed since the boys doubled over in pain as a particularly strong shock coursed through them. Julie sobbed and ran to Reggie, stopping abruptly in front of him. 

“You have to save yourselves right now!” She turned to Alex, tears threatening to start falling. “Go join Caleb’s club!” Finally, she looked over at Luke, desperation in her eyes. “Please…” The boys slowly but surely struggled to stand up, wincing in pain. Julie was frantically pacing, not even bothering to try to hide her tears anymore. 

“Go, poof out! Do something!” Julie pointed towards the door, then turned around and looked at her friends. “Please, do it for me,” she begged. Reggie shook his head, and Julie uttered another ‘please’.

“We’re not going back there.” Reggie sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. To him, and probably to Luke and Alex, second death was a far better way to spend the rest of their “lives” rather than performing at Caleb’s club for all of eternity. Also, Reggie was here right now with the only people that ever cared about him. Fading away with them sounded much better than being Caleb’s puppet. Anything was better than that.

Luke stood up, his legs shaking. He took a second to make sure that he wouldn’t immediately topple over before speaking. “No music is worth making, Julie, if we’re not making it with you.” This was absolutely true. Somehow, Julie had stuck with them. Despite the fact that they were literal ghosts, despite the fact that they had let her down when she needed them, despite everything that had happened. “No regrets,” he added. He wasn’t sure if he was reassuring himself or if he was letting Julie know just how much he, or rather the three of them, cared about her.

Julie closed the space between her and Luke and hugged him tightly. He didn’t hesitate before hugging her back. They were both so wrapped up in their emotions that they didn’t stop to question just how Julie was able to touch him.

“I love you guys.” Julie sniffled, looking over Luke’s shoulder at Alex and Reggie. They both half-heartedly smiled, for this was a bittersweet moment.

Julie seemed to finally realize that she was able to touch Luke. She pulled away from their embrace, but she moved her hands down to hold Luke’s hands. He was...glowing? It was subtle, but he was most definitely glowing. “How can I touch you..?” Luke looked down at their hands, obviously just as confused as Julie was.

“I-I dunno.” Luke shook his head in disbelief. Julie reached up to touch Luke, her hands resting on either side of his face. He did the same, still not believing that this was happening. Alex and Reggie looked at each other, then back to Julie and Luke.

They let go of each other, and Luke turned around to look at the other two boys. “I feel stronger,” he remarked, a smile on his face. Alex and Reggie looked at him with wide eyes, then they looked at Julie. 

“Alex, Reggie, come.” Julie motioned for them to come over, and they quickly obliged. They formed a group hug, feeling shocked when Julie could touch Alex and Reggie as well. It was sweet and emotional, and every one of them actually felt truly happy for the first time in a couple of days.

“I-I don’t feel as weak anymore,” Reggie said as he pulled away from their hug. He looked more alive, happier even (save for the tear stains on his cheeks).

“Me neither,” Alex added. “Not that, y’know, I was ever that weak.” He smiled, which was good. Everything was good. They felt like they could take on the world!

Simultaneously, the boys felt a tingling on their wrist where Caleb’s mark was. They quickly looked down at their wrists, only to see that the mark was lifting off of their skin. It glowed and disappeared into a cloud of purple glitter, and none of them could take their eyes off of it. They had one collective thought: Did that just happen?

“What do you think that means?” Julie’s question was met with silence. Not an uncomfortable silence, just a moment so everyone could collect their thoughts. It was very much needed since a lot just happened all at once.

“I think the band’s back.” Luke looked up and smiled softly, though there was so much emotion and feeling behind it. The band was back. The thought made his bandmates smile as well. Caleb’s curse seemed to have lifted if the lack of painful shocks and the seal that had just disappeared were anything to go by.

Again, there was a comfortable silence, only broken when Alex asked if they could hug again. They all laughed, but of course, they hugged. Why wouldn’t they? After all, they very nearly lost each other for good, and they could finally touch Julie, so it seemed like hugs would become a regular thing.

“I like this,” Reggie stated, his signature smile on his face. Everyone agreed, and Reggie felt a happiness that he hadn’t felt in...a pretty long time if he was being honest. This atmosphere, this love, it was foreign to him, but also so familiar. It felt right.

“We played the Orpheum!” Julie grinned, it suddenly dawning upon her that she just got up on stage in front of that huge crowd, and her bandmates were able to finally do what they didn’t get to before they died. They all cheered, and Julie bounced up and down from excitement, prompting the boys to do the same. They were safe. They had each other, and that was all that mattered.

...Though, Alex had someone else that mattered, someone that he hadn’t gotten to properly tell goodbye. And he had left so much unsaid, so much that he wanted to tell and confess. He felt...regret. Yes, he deeply regretted not just confessing his feelings, for not saying any of the other million thoughts that had been running through his head. He wouldn’t get that chance now…and he probably never would.


	2. Unsaid Willie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex misses Willie, and his friends help him feel better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two is in Alex's POV! Also, just as a note, in this fic Caleb hasn't possessed Nick and assumes that the Boys are dead (for real dead).  
> **Edited for easier reading**

Alex tried to be happy, he really did. After all, he and his friends hadn’t faded away! He knew that he should be content with that, but something was missing that would truly make his happiness complete. That something? Willie, of course.

The last thing that Willie had said to Alex was ‘see you later, hotdog’. It felt like a promise, almost. Alex clung to that, believing that he would see Willie again, one way or another. There was so much that Alex had wanted to say in that moment, but Willie had already turned around and skated away.

Alex wasn’t his usual self, and his bandmates noticed this. He was distant, cold, and he would sometimes lash out at his friends, which was totally unlike him. He would immediately apologize afterwards, though, so they weren’t all too bothered by it. They were more concerned than anything.

“What’s up with you, man?” Luke was fed up after Alex had made a snarky comment about a new draft of a song that Luke had been working on. He wasn’t annoyed by Alex’s words, he was just sick and tired of Alex acting so moody. “You’ve been so…”

“Weird!” Reggie chimed in, and Luke gave him the side eye, silently telling him to shut up.

“Nothing is wrong!” Alex snapped, and Julie jumped in her chair at the sudden raise in his voice. Now, everyone was absolutely certain that something was most definitely wrong; Alex just...didn’t act like this, ever. In fact, the last time he was even remotely this upset was when he was kicked out of his parent’s house for coming out. Even then, he had been more sad than angry. Luke and Reggie looked at each other, both thinking the same thing: Is this about you-know-who?

“Yeah, no. Something’s wrong.” Julie got up from her chair and slowly walked over to Alex, afraid that he’d have another outburst. When he didn’t say anything, Julie sat down next to him, leaning against the wall while he sat on top of an amp. “You know you can tell us what’s on your mind, right? We care about you.” She reached out to him, her palm facing upwards as an invitation for Alex to hold her hand.

“I just…” Alex hesitated before taking Julie’s hand. “You’d think that it’s stupid.” In his mind, if his friends knew that he was acting like this over a boy, he’d never hear the end of it.

“Hey, it’s not stupid.” Luke joined Julie on the floor, and Reggie followed him. Luke looked up at Alex, trying to decipher his unreadable expression to find out what’s wrong. “If it’s bothering you, then it must mean something. Any problems that you have are valid, Alex.”

Should Alex tell them? It was obvious that they cared, but…the last time he told his loved ones a secret like this, it had ended with him being kicked out of his parent’s house. Your friends aren’t your parents, he told himself. They actually care about you.

“It’s- uh.” Alex knew he was nervous over nothing, but he couldn’t help it. He started bouncing his leg in an attempt to calm down. “It’s about Willie.” He looked at the floor, his grip on Julie’s hand tightening. What if they think I’m stupid? Wait, Julie doesn’t know who Willie is. His thoughts were going a mile a minute, thinking of every worst-case scenario. She’s gonna think I’m weird. They’re all gonna think I’m just an idiot. What if-

“Alex, bud, you listening?” Reggie’s question and his hand waving in front of Alex’s face snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Sorry,” Alex mumbled. He rubbed his eyes and realized that he had started crying a little bit. When did that happen?

“Oh-kay, so he wasn’t listening.” Luke stood up with a huff and wrapped an arm around Alex in a side-hug. “We were saying that it’s okay, Alex. We know how much Willie means to you.” Luke really didn’t know just how head-over-heels that skater boy made Alex feel, but he wasn’t going to correct him.

“If it’s okay for me to ask,” Julie started, obviously confused about what on Earth they were talking about. “Who’s Willie?”

“He’s a friend.” Alex wanted to leave it at that, but Julie gave him that ‘I know that’s not the whole story’ look. “I also really, really like him, in a romantic way.” Julie smiled, which alleviated some of Alex’s worries.

“What’s Willie gotta do with your bad mood, though?” Reggie, who had absolutely no brain-to-mouth filter, blurted this out without thinking. Luke and Julie glared at him, Luke mouthing ‘shut up’ before Reggie understood. “I-I mean, um-”

“No, no, I should probably tell you guys.” Alex sighed and let go of Julie’s hand, instead clasping his hands together and letting them rest in his lap. “I just feel like I shoulda said something to him, y’know? Like a thanks, or…” He trailed off, not wanting to admit that he regretted not professing his love for Willie right then and there outside of the Orpheum. That would be super embarrassing. “I never got to say a proper goodbye. I-” He felt choked up all of the sudden. “I never got to tell him how much he means to me.”

“Why don’t you go tell him, then?” Reggie was trying to help, but he was missing the mark by quite a bit.

“Can’t. Caleb would probably find out if Willie and I met up, and then he’d know that the three of us didn’t actually fade away, and then who knows what would happen.” Alex was rambling a bit, a side-effect of having so much anxiety, but he knew that his friends didn’t mind. “I know that I have to stay away, but it hurts.” There was more emotion behind that word than he would’ve liked.

Silence fell over them like a blanket, feeling heavy and suffocating. Alex was growing more and more anxious by the second, thinking that he had slipped up and said something wrong. Did his friends think that he was just being over-emotional?

“Sorry,” he muttered, both trying to break the silence and to apologize for what an absolute mess of a person (ghost?) he was.

“For what? Having feelings?” Julie raised a brow. “It’s okay to feel that way, you can’t help it.” She was right, of course. It wasn’t Alex’s fault that Willie had skated his way into Alex’s heart and made himself at home. However, it was his fault that he didn’t just man up and tell Willie how he felt instead of just hugging him goodbye. He certainly did not regret that hug in the slightest, though.

“You good?” Reggie came over to give Alex a pat on the back. Alex smiled and nodded.

“Yeah.” Alex wasn’t really telling the whole truth, but he also wasn’t completely lying. On one hand, he was with his three best friends that loved and cared about him. On the other hand, he really, really missed Willie. Like, a lot.

“Okay.” Luke pulled away from their hug and went back to his chair, picking up right where they had left off. He wasn’t doing this to be rude, though; Luke knew that Alex needed a distraction from his thoughts, and brainstorming lyrics for a new song would probably do the trick.

They all kept a close eye on Alex for the next few days. He was acting a lot less moody, which was good, but it was clear that he was still upset. His mood seemed to get considerably better as the days went on, though.

Alex had poofed away after band practice. He normally did this, so it wasn’t concerning, but Luke had noticed that Alex hadn’t really been giving his all during practice, so he thought that something must have been bothering his friend. There was one place that Luke thought that Alex could be.

Luke appeared on top of the Orpheum sign. Lo and behold, there was Alex. He was looking down at the people passing below, his knees tucked to his chest. Luke sat next to him, letting his legs dangle over the edge of the sign.

“Hey, you good?” Luke looked over at Alex. He looked troubled, or even hurt. Alex didn’t answer immediately, and he kept his gaze on the ground far below them.

“I miss him,” Alex said after a long silence. He looked up at Luke, and it was obvious that he had been crying at some point. Luke’s heart broke, because he wished that he could help Alex out, though he knew that he couldn’t.

“I know, bud.” Luke opened his arms, inviting Alex to hug him. Alex didn’t even hesitate before going in for a hug, and he definitely would have crushed Luke if they were alive.

“I wish I could go and see him, but…” Alex trailed off, but Luke knew what he was going to say; Caleb could possibly find out, and then he would know that they hadn’t faded away. Given how adamant Caleb was about getting rid of them, he probably wouldn’t react very well to finding out that they were still alive (well, dead, but same thing).

“I bet you’ll see him again, Alex.” Luke tried to reassure his friend, but both of them knew that the chances of them seeing each other again were...pretty low, to say the least.

“...Thank you,” Alex whispered softly. So softly, in fact, that Luke almost didn’t hear it.

“It’s no problem, Alex.” Luke was just glad that he was able to help in the slightest. He knew that Alex really cared about Willie, and it hurt him to see how utterly devastated Alex was over this. Luke wished that he could help more, but all he could do for right now was be here for Alex.

Julie did not expect to be hanging out with Flynn and Alex at the same time, but it was certainly fun! Sure, she had to relay what Alex was saying to Flynn, but she didn’t mind. They were making bracelets and chatting, though Alex just watched mostly, only adding in something funny every so often or answering one of Flynn’s questions.

Flynn had taken their conversation from hot dogs (she had asked how Alex had died) to boys, and Julie could tell from the far-away look in Alex’s eyes that he was thinking about Willie.

“Ah! Sorry, I should stop rambling,” Flynn said as she continued to weave a rainbow bracelet. “Plus, I don’t wanna bore my cool new ghost pal by talking about boys! So, see any cute ghost girls?”

Alex smiled at that, which lifted Julie’s spirits. “Hah, you might wanna tell her that I’m pretty freakin’ gay.” Julie giggled, and Flynn looked up from her bracelet.

“What’s so funny?” Flynn huffed and dramatically rolled her eyes. “I hate only hearing half of the conversation!”

“Didn’t miss much! Alex just wanted you to know that he’s, and I quote, pretty freaking gay,” Julie said, and Flynn gasped, nearly dropping her bracelet and losing her progress.

“Ooh, so I can keep rambling?” She didn’t even let Julie answer before delving back into how cute her crush was.

Alex felt happy, even though he was still thinking about Willie. Instead of feeling sad while thinking about the ‘what-ifs’ that could have happened, he looked back on the time that the two of them had spent together. It made his heart warm, and he couldn’t help but smile a little more.

“What’s got you smiling like that?” Julie teased once she noticed that Alex was practically grinning from ear to ear.

“Just thinking about Willie,” Alex answered. “He’s cute.” Julie burst out in laughter while Ale was blushing from embarrassment. He had not meant to say that out loud.

“Haha!” Flynn tried to join in on Julie’s laughing, but it was incredibly forced. “Funny one, Alex! Top-tier comedy.”

Once Julie had calmed down, she asked Alex if she could share what he had said. He allowed her to tell Flynn, who obviously asked tons of questions about Willie.

So, Alex answered her questions and retold all of the special moments that he had spent with Willie. The only thing he didn’t share was their hug outside of the Orpheum. For some reason, he wanted to keep that particular memory to himself.

“Aww!” Flynn was looking over in Alex’s general area. “That’s so cute! Have you seen him since-” Julie frantically motioned for her to stop talking, and thankfully she took the hint. “I mean, um...look, I finished!” She held up her completed bracelet.

“Looks good,” Alex remarked, and Julie relayed it to Flynn. She smiled and placed the bracelet in front of where she thought Alex was.

“I don’t know if you can even wear it, but I want you to have it.” Flynn didn’t expect anything to happen, so she very nearly screamed when the bracelet floated up, turned around a couple of times, and then disappeared. “...Okay, that can happen, I guess.”

The three of them continued their lively conversation until Ray called the girls down for dinner. Julie was about to ask Alex if he wanted to come down with them, but he had already poofed away.

Alex and Reggie were alone in the garage. Julie had school, and Luke was doing Luke things (probably visiting his parents). Reggie was humming a tune and absentmindedly pacing in a circle, while Alex was furiously writing something down on a piece of paper.

“Whatcha writing?” Reggie suddenly appeared behind Alex, trying to get a look at what he was doing.

“Hey!” Alex quickly flipped the paper over, but Reggie had already seen the hastily-scribbled title at the top of the page.

“A song about Willie?” Reggie gave a mischievous grin. “Ooh, didn’t take you for a love song type-a guy!” Reggie teased, which earned him a shove from Alex.

“It’s not even good, so I don’t know why I even tried.” Alex dejectedly started crumpling up the paper. Luckily, Reggie stopped him and yanked it away, smoothing it out and trying to flatten it back to how it was originally.

“I’ll be the judge of that!” Reggie looked over the lyrics, some of which were crossed out or incomplete, but it was still pretty good considering that Alex never really wrote many songs before. It was super sappy, which wasn’t a bad thing of course! Reggie could really tell that Alex had poured his heart into these lyrics.

“Well, mister expert-song-writer, what do you think?” Alex tried to act nonchalant about this, but in reality he was a nervous wreck. He knew that he wasn’t the best writer, that was more Luke’s thing, and this song was basically a love confession to Willie, so it was nerve-wracking to have Reggie look at it.

“It’s great, Alex!” Reggie gave Alex a pat on the back. “Y’know, maybe we could try to put a beat to this! Could be fun.” Reggie was thinking that fleshing out these lyrics into a song could help Alex feel better, similar to how “Unsaid Emily” helped Luke out.

“Really?” The thought of writing a full song was exciting to Alex. He’d never done that before; the most songwriting he’d ever done was occasionally helping Luke with lyrics, but that was it. “That’d be sick, Reg!”

And so, the two of them started brainstorming ideas on how to make these lyrics come alive. When Julie and Luke came back, they all started working on it. Of course, drums were a main part of the song. Alex was ecstatic that his friends were helping him do this. They really did care about him!

“Ready?” Alex nodded, trying to calm himself down. This is fine, he reassured himself. Sure, he was about to pour his feelings out in front of his bandmates, but he knew that they wouldn’t make fun of him or think of him differently. He twirled his drumsticks in his hand one, two, three times before starting to play.

Alex really did put all of his effort into playing, letting himself get wrapped up in the moment and the music. He was playing hard, singing loud, and smiling the whole time. This wasn’t a sad song, this was almost a tribute to that funky skater boy that Alex had fallen head-first for.

When the song ended, everyone was quiet. It was a comfortable silence, and it was only broken by a quiet ‘wow’ from the garage door. Alex’s head snapped up, and he nearly fell off of his stool.

“...Hey, hotdog.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed!!  
> Check me out on twitter, where I post JATP art! https://twitter.com/theartisticfoxx


	3. You Got (Everything) To Lose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Willie has to deal with Alex fading away right in front of his eyes. This is all his fault, after all...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder: Caleb has NOT possessed Nick, and he doesn't know that the boys are still "alive"! Please enjoy!  
> Also!! The idea for this song came from @Da1NOnlyHpyKity on Twitter, so please go and give them some love! <3

‘I’ll see you around, hotdog’ were the last words Willie said to Alex...and they were quite possibly the _lamest_ words he could have said. In that moment, during their hug, he had wanted to confess his feelings or something. He didn’t, though, because he was a coward and a weenie. Willie left, hoping that Alex and his bandmates were able to cross over.

When Caleb announced that they were having a special guest band play tonight, Willie didn’t know what to expect, since Caleb was pretty unpredictable. He can safely say that he did _not_ expect, not in a million years, that Alex would appear on stage.

“Alex?” Willie stood up, hoping, praying that he was seeing someone else. But no, it really was Alex. _‘Why is he here? Oh. Oh no, Caleb must have gotten to them_ .’ Willie stared up at the stage in disbelief. Caleb caught his eye and winked, which made Willie feel sick. He tried to move forward to the stage, since he was at the back of the room, but Caleb made a ‘sit down’ motion with his hand. Willie had to oblige. This was torture; Alex was _right there_ , obviously trying to fight whatever control Caleb had on him, and Willie couldn’t do anything but watch.

Suddenly, Alex blipped away, his drumsticks clattering to the floor. Caleb briefly turned around, seamlessly integrating it into his dance. He looked confused for a short moment, but quickly resumed his charismatic facade. Then, Reggie disappeared as well. Luke flickered in and out for a few seconds before he was gone, too.

The rest of Caleb’s band stopped, obviously confused as to what just happened. Caleb just smiled and went on some long rant about something or other, Willie wasn’t paying attention. He was _devastated_ over seeing Alex fade away right in front of him. This was all Willie’s fault. He really should have skated away…

‘I would’ve still followed you’ was what Alex had said in response to that. It made Willie smile, thinking back to that moment. Alex hadn’t blamed him for what Caleb had done...he still felt bad, though, and he really missed Alex.

When he had gone skating one fateful day, he hadn’t expected to skate head-first into the cutest ghost boy he’d ever seen. He both literally and figuratively fell hard for Alex. That’s why he was so excited to teach Alex the ins and outs of ghosting, because he would get to spend more time with him.

Willie thought back to when the two of them went, or “broke in” as Alex had insisted, to the museum. That was such a fun day, yet Willie’s heart hurt thinking about it. He wished that he had never told Caleb about Alex and his friends, that he hadn’t tried to help them speak to a lifer…

This was all his fault.

Over the next week, Willie was quiet. Too quiet. He stayed at the club all day, and he hadn’t asked Caleb if he could leave at all, which was very unusual. He hadn’t even picked his skateboard up _once_ since Alex faded away.

He moped around, only putting on a smile around Caleb and the club’s guests. His “friends” (fellow prisoners) asked him what was wrong, but he didn’t tell them. He _couldn’t_ tell them. Any time he even thought of Alex had him soldering back tears, so talking about him would probably turn him into a sobbing mess.

Caleb noticed the change in Willie’s behavior, of course, and he _loved_ it; Willie was much more obedient now, and Caleb was able to order him around with less resistance. Even better, he had caused this by putting his seal on the boys, and Willie wasn’t even mad at him. Despite enjoying how pliant Willie was, Caleb had to admit that he did miss Willie’s boisterous personality. It made him popular among the guests at the club.

“William.” Caleb’s voice made Willie flinch. He turned to look at Caleb, who looked...concerned, which was odd.

“Yes, Caleb?” Willie had just decided to stop resisting Caleb. He didn’t really have a reason to fight him, since Alex was gone.

“What’s wrong, William? You haven’t been acting like yourself.” Caleb’s words were sickeningly sweet, and Willie had to bite back a scoff.

“I’m fine, Caleb.” Willie tried to act like his usual laid-back self, but a raised eyebrow and a knowing look from Caleb quickly put a stop to that.

“You can’t fool me,” Caled said, an unsaid ‘I own you’ hanging in the space between them. Willie sighed, realizing that it would be best to just get this conversation over with.

“Fine. I’m pretty down, yeah,” Willie admitted, looking anywhere but at Caleb. “It’s ‘cuz- because,” he corrected himself, knowing that Caleb preferred it when he spoke ‘properly’. “Because Alex is gone…”

There was a torturously long silence, and Willie could swear that time had stopped, because it was that quiet. He looked up at Caleb, finding that he looked sympathetic. That was weird; Caleb had _never_ looked like this before.

“Ah, that. I’m incredibly sorry, William, but I did what had to be done.” Caleb shrugged it off, playing right back into his arrogant and aloof personality. 

Willie audibly sighed. He hated this, being stuck at the club. He wanted to leave, but what was the point? Alex had faded away, so he had nothing to look forward to, and Caleb probably wouldn’t even allow him to leave.

“Cheer up!” Caleb smiled, though it was obviously fake. “Your lousy mood is making the guests uneasy.” Caleb was always thinking about his own reputation, and never about the feelings of others. Typical.

“Yes, sir…” Willie plastered on a fake smile. Caleb gave him a thumbs up, then he poofed away. As soon as he was gone, Willie’s smile fell and morphed into a frown.

Willie knew that he should ask Caleb if he could leave, but it seemed pointless. He wouldn’t be able to ever see Alex’s smile again, or hear his laugh, or hold his hand...but he had done this to himself. He couldn’t forget that.

He couldn’t forgive himself, either.

Willie was basically on autopilot for the next week. He did nothing except what Caleb asked him to do, which wasn’t even a lot. He had this permanent half-smile on his face, which was enough for Caleb to not ask him to ‘lighten up’.

Eventually, after going through life like this for two weeks, Willie broke down. He found a secluded area of the club where he usually hung out and just cried. He didn’t even care if anyone saw, he just needed to let it out.

Why, oh _why_ didn’t he hold onto Alex for a little longer? Why didn’t he just tell Alex how he felt? Everything hurt, especially since this was all his fault. _His fault_.

Despite that, Alex had still trusted him. ALex had still smiled and hugged him. Alex...he didn’t blame Willie for this. At least, that’s what Willie could tell from what Alex said.

Willie rubbed his eyes, though he knew that they were probably puffy and red. He needed to get out of here, clear his head...and say a final goodbye to Alex. His thoughts were too loud, and being at the ghost Club wasn’t helping. 

He changed out of his formal clothes, opting for a cropped hoodie and a pair of jeans. He grabbed his skateboard and helmet, even though he didn’t need it. Just as he was about to head out the door, a hand clamped down on his shoulder. 

“Going somewhere, William?” Caleb’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard to Willie. He knew that he had forgotten something, and that was to ask Caleb for permission to go.

“I just...I need to clear my head.” Technically, it wasn’t a lie. He _was_ going to clear his head, and he was going to say goodbye.

“Where, exactly, were you planning on going?” Caleb’s grip on his shoulder tightened, causing Willie to flinch. “You know that I have to approve of your little outings, don’t you, William?” His voice was teetering on the edge of rage, which sent a shiver down Willie’s spine.

“I don’t know Caleb. The museum? The strip?” Willie paused, debating if he should tell Caleb the last place he was going to visit. “...The garage where Alex was staying.”

“Ah.” Caleb released his hand from Willie’s shoulder. “And you’re going to do what at those places?”

“I wanted to say goodbye to Alex.” Willie didn’t want to fight with Caleb any more. If he had a heart, or any feelings at all, he would let Willie go.

“Mmhm, I see,” Caleb mused, taking his sweet time in deciding whether or not he would let Willie leave.

“Please, Caleb.” Willie hated to beg, but he _needed_ this, he needed this last bit of closure…

Caleb didn’t say anything for a moment, and it felt like an eternity. Willie couldn’t take this; Caleb should just say no and get it over with instead of dragging it out. 

“Fine,” Caleb said, stepping away from Willie. “You have one hour to say your goodbye, then you’ll come straight back here.” With a wave of his hand, a watch appeared on Willie’s wrist.

“Time starts now, William.” To prove his point, the timer on the clock started going down. “Tick-tock!” He called out after Willie, who all but ran towards the exit.

Willie poofed away, reappearing at the strip where he met Alex. He sat down on the bench where they had talked, where Willie had fallen a little more in love with Alex. He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, reliving that amazing memory.

“I know you can’t hear me,” he started, trying to ignore the tears that were beginning to well up in his eyes. “But I, um, I wanted to say that meeting you has been the best part of my afterlife. I fell for you the moment I saw you, no pun intended.” He laughed, tears beginning to fall. “I miss you Alex. I really do.”

Willie sniffed and looked down at his watch. How had ten minutes already passed? He reluctantly got up from the bench, staring at it for a moment before skating away to his next destination.

It had taken five minutes to get to the museum, since he didn’t have to worry about traffic or pedestrians...or buildings. He skated right into the museum, hating that it was finished with its construction. He went over to where he and Alex had screamed, wishing that all of the people would just _leave_. It felt wrong for all this noise to be there.

“Sorry about the crowd, Alex. I know that you hated crowds.” Willie sat down on the bench, grimacing when a lifer decided to sit there too. It sent a weird shiver through his body, and he hated it.

“I loved coming here with you, man. It was great, seeing you loosen up a bit.” He smiled, remembering how timid Alex had been when they first walked in, and how he was more vibrant when they left. “I really wish that we could’ve had more time together. Maybe I would have asked you on a proper date…” He looked up to the sky, almost hoping to see Alex, though he knew that he wouldn’t.

“Alright, I gotta go.” The timer on his watch said that he had 30 minutes left. “One last stop. Willie poofed away, not wanting to waste any more time by trying to skate to his next stop.

Willie appeared at the garage where he had (sort of) spied on Alex. He was surprised to find the garage doors slightly ajar, the lights on, and voices coming from inside the garage. He moved closer, pressing his back to the door so he could listen and not be seen.

“Alright, I think we’re ready to go!” It was a girl’s voice, one that Willie didn’t recognise. “Are _you_ ready, though?”

“Yeah...yeah, I think so.” That voice. That beautiful, wonderful voice… It couldn’t be, could it? Willie’s legs were shaking, though he still managed to get up on his tip-toes to look through the windows in the garage door. His legs nearly gave out when he saw Alex. _Alex!_ He was _right there_. Willie’s heart would have skipped a beat, if he had one.

Everything disappeared except for Alex. How was he there? Was Willie dreaming? Or was this some sort of sick nightmare? Either way, he was so, so glad to see Alex.

“Okay, uh, don’t make fun of me if I cry, please.” Laughter erupted from the group, and Willie finally realized that Alex’s bandmates were also there. So, none of them were gone? What was going on..?

All of the sudden, the band started playing. Alex started out on the drums, and the girl, who Willie assumed was the Julie that the boys had talked about, played the keyboard. Then, as if things couldn’t get better, Alex started singing:

_I never thought that I’d so adore_

_A ghost who skated into me_

_And I landed face-first on the floor_

Wait. Hold up, Alex was singing about _him_. Willie watched as Alex sang. He had the most lovesick expression on his face, and Willie was sure that he was making the same face.

_His charm and his smile_

_Made my heart flutter and soar_

_I knew that I wanted to hang for a while_

Willie couldn’t believe it. Alex felt the same way? He wanted to run in there right now, but something made him stay in place, probably his desire to see how the rest of the song went.

_Oh, but I never got to say what was on my mind_

_How much I love you, how much I miss you_

_Oh, the thoughts racing through my head_

_As I held you tight in my arms, as we said goodbye_

Alex...Alex loved him? Life, for real? Did Willie hear that correctly? His mind was moving a mile a minute, trying to comprehend what was happening. This was just...wow.

_I look back on the moments we shared_

_And I smile to myself_

_I really could tell how much you cared_

Willie moved away from the window, instead going to stand by the propped open door. Yeah, Alex was really _right_ there. He tried to stay in the shadows so he wasn’t seen, but Alex was far too focused on singing and drumming to notice anyway.

_We scream and we shout_

_In an empty museum_

_You helped me to learn to let my anxieties out_

Willie was in a trance, not being able to focus on anything other than Alex and his beautiful singing. Then, Alex stopped singing, his focus solely on the drums. He played an amazing drum solo, accompanied only by a small bit of guitar. Willie was so in love, because Alex was so talented and amazing. Alex started singing again, going through the chorus a final time before getting to the final verse.

_If you were here, I’d hold you close_

_I’d never want to let you go_

_Thinking about the confession I left unsaid_

_Countless regrets running through my head_

_Oh, I wish you were here_

_So I could tell you_

_I love you_

With a final drum beat, the song was over. It was dead silent, Alex’s bandmates looking at Alex while he looked down at the ground.

“Wow,” Willie whispered to himself. Alex’s gaze shot up from the floor, locking eyes with Willie. He hadn’t meant to get Alex’s attention this way, but oh well. He might as well roll with it.

“...Hey, hotdog.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> psst! to celebrate this fic getting 600 hits, i'm hosting a one-shot raffle on my twitter! here's the link to enter: https://twitter.com/theartisticfoxx/status/1317621661584293890


	4. It's Now or Never...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Willie see each other. Is this real?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is much shorter than the other chapters! I hope you guys don't mind, I just have...big plans, so to speak, for the next chapter after this. I hope you enjoy, you might want to grab some tissues. :)

Wow, Alex couldn’t believe it… Willie was there, in Julie’s garage, just a few feet away! He tried to say something,  _ anything _ , but words failed him when he saw the tears streaming down Willie’s cheeks. So, he wordlessly approached Willie, hesitantly at first, and hugged him tight. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, all of his anxieties and worries melting away as Willie’s arms wrapped around him. This was different from their last hug; while that one had been gentle and quick, this one was a deep, warm embrace that left Alex never wanting to let Willie go.

Willie was  _ actually there _ . Alex had thought that maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, but here he was, hugging Willie. This was real, Willie was here…

Oh no, he totally just heard Alex singing that dumb song about him, didn’t he? Alex would be embarrassed, but his overwhelming feelings for Willie drowned it out. He could hear faint whispering behind him, but it sounded so far away. It was definitely Julie saying something, probably to Reggie and Luke, followed by the sound of movement. Out of the corner of his eye, Alex saw Julie leave the garage.

“You’re not dead…” Willie’s voice was quiet and muffled, and Alex almost didn’t hear it. He nodded, hugging Willie impossibly tighter. Alex wanted to stay like this for forever, just holding Willie close.

“Alex,” Willie said, wiggling out of Alex’s arms. “I-I don’t have much time.” He looked so distraught, his brows creasing as he frantically wiped away his tears in an attempt to calm himself down.

“What do you mean?” Alex moved to hold Willie’s hand, his heart breaking when Willie flinched away. “Willie, what’s wrong?”

“I only have, like,” Willie looked down at his watch. “Twenty-five minutes. Caleb gave me an hour, and I wanted to say goodbye, but you’re  _ here _ ! And I just-” Willie looked at Alex, a loving look on his face that made Alex’s heart ache. “I have to tell you something.”

“Me too.” Alex reached out to Willie again, smiling when he took his hand instead of pulling away. “I guess you already know, though.” He tried to play it cool, but the butterflies in his stomach were fluttering around nervously. He was completely prepared for Willie to reject him. After all, why would someone as cool and funny and handsome as Willie want Alex, a high-strung ball of anxiety that’s three seconds away from a mental breakdown at any given moment.

“Yeah.” Willie averted his gaze, and Alex could swear that there was a hint of a blush on his cheeks. “I liked the song, Alex. Like, a lot.” Willie moved closer, looking back to Alex. Now that he was closer, Alex could definitely tell that Willie was blushing, wow.

“You did?” Alex’s heart was racing. Willie actually liked the song? Did Willie know that the song was about  _ him _ ? 

“Of course I did. I…” Willie paused as if to collect his thoughts. “I feel the same way. He held Alex’s other hand, glancing down at them for a second before looking back up. “I love you, Alex.”

Alex was speechless. Did...did Willie actually say that, or was this a cruel joke? What if he was just kidding… Maybe Willie had been sent by Caleb to mess with him. What if-

“Hey, Alex. You okay?” Willie’s soothing voice made those intrusive thoughts plaguing his mind disappear, helping him focus on the present. Alex squeezed his hand, taking a few deep breaths to calm down.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m okay, sorry,” Alex said, nodding his head. “I…” He was so scared to say it. He’d only ever told one person that he loved them before, and that ended a little rough. Why was it so nerve-wracking, though? Willie had  _ just _ said it. Still, he was terrified; what if Willie didn’t actually mean it? “I love you too.” He said it before he could think about it any further. After all, you only live once...kinda.

Willie looked at Alex for a moment, making Alex blush. He was just so close...Alex was still half-convinced that this was a dream, even though he didn’t sleep and therefore couldn’t dream.

“Can I kiss you?” Those words came tumbling out of Alex before he could stop them. “I-I mean, uh-” Alex hadn’t meant to say that  _ out loud _ . Oh no, that was probably the stupidest thing he could’ve asked.

“Of course you can.” Willie smiled, leaning in close to Alex, but waiting for him to make a move after that. It was a small thing, waiting for Alex, but it meant a lot; if Willie had just gone for it, his anxiety would have shot through the roof.

Alex moved forward, hesitating before closing his eyes and bridging the gap between their lips. Those nervous butterflies in his stomach that were jostling around earlier were replaced by excited ones that made him feel giddy. Wow, he was kissing Willie. And Willie was kissing back! It felt so unreal, especially when Willie’s hand cupped his cheek.

When they separated, Willie rested his forehead against Alex’s, his eyes still closed. Alex just looked at him, admiring every detail about him. There was so much to adore, from his pretty eyes, to his adorable laugh, his funky style...it all made Alex’s head spin, but in a good way.

“Was that okay?” Ever the over-thinker, Alex got a bit nervous when Willie hadn’t said anything yet. Willie finally opened his eyes, a huge grin on his face.

“That was amazing, Alex,” Willie said, backing away from Alex but keeping his hand where it was. “ _ You’re _ amazing. I wish that I could stay with you.” Ah, right. There was a harsh time limit on them right now. Alex nearly wanted to cry out of frustration; he had  _ finally _ gotten to confess to Willie (although it had been an accident), Willie even  _ liked him back _ , and it was being ripped away from him by Caleb.

“How much longer?” Alex hated how soft his voice was, and how it wavered a bit as he tried not to cry. Even though he already knew that Willie didn’t have much time here, it still hurt. A lot.

Willie looked down at his watch, his face falling as he read the time. “Ten minutes,” he mumbled, glaring at the timer as if it would magically go up in time. Alex choked back a sob as he hugged Willie again. “I’m sorry,” Willie whispered, practically clinging to Alex like his life depended on it.

“Don’t be, please.” Alex pulled away, looking Willie dead in the eyes. “It’s not your fault. Please, don’t think that  _ any  _ of this is your fault.” He couldn’t stop the few tears that escaped, but Willie reached up to wipe them away.

Willie asked a silent question, his gaze flicking down to Alex’s lips for a moment before he looked back up at him. Alex responded by leaning forward, joining them together in a soft and timid kiss. Alex wanted to let Willie know just how much he cared about him, but since he couldn’t think of anything to say, this seemed like the best alternative.

Once Alex broke the kiss, he put his hands on either side of Willie’s face. “I love you,” he said, surprised with how easily he could say it. “I really do love you, Willie.” 

“I love you too.” Willie placed his hands on top of Alex’s, looking at him like he was the center of his universe. “What if we tried to meet up soon? I can’t lose you again…”

Alex nodded, desperation in his eyes and his voice. “Where? And when?”

“The museum? Maybe next week, Caleb will think it’s weird if I go out again so soon.” Willie glanced down at his watch, grimacing at the time. “A minute twenty. Got anything you wanna say?” It was a joke, but also a plea for Alex to say something,  _ anything _ to make Willie feel a little better about leaving him.

“I’ll see you soon, Willie.” Alex hugged him again, solidifying his promise just like how Willie had promised the last time they were together. Suddenly, Alex felt cold. He opened his eyes, and Willie was gone, having poofed away just before the timer went off.

Just like that, Alex was alone again.


	5. Without You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex's meeting with Willie doesn't go quite as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW // Panic attack  
> Sorry for not posting for a while! Personal stuff came up! And I've been feeling bad lately...I think that's reflected in this chapter. :)

Alex stood in the middle of the garage, already missing Willie even though he had only left about five minutes ago. He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to cling to that feeling of being with Willie. That sounded pathetic, but he knew that doing so would be the only way he would get through this next week. Alex was snapped out of his thoughts when someone behind him cleared their throat.

“Hey, Alex.” When he turned around, he saw that it was Luke, and Reggie was close behind him. They both looked concerned, and rightfully so since Alex looked like a bit of a mess. “You good?”

“Yeah,” Alex said, wiping his cheeks to try and hide the obvious tear stains on them. “Yeah, I’m okay…” It wasn’t a complete lie; he did feel better now that he had been able to see Willie again and even  _ kiss  _ him, but he wasn’t going to tell his friends that just yet.

Luke didn’t seem to be fully convinced, but Alex’s answer was good enough for Reggie. He looked around the garage, his brows creasing slightly. “Where’d Willie go?” Luke glared at Reggie, slapping his shoulder and mouthing ‘shut up’ at him.

“He had to go,” Alex mumbled, not wanting to think about that right now. “But I’m meeting up with him next week, so that’s good.”  _ Focus on the bright side _ , Alex reminded himself.

“Ooh, so Alex has a date?” Reggie said in a sing-song voice, wiggling his eyebrows too to try and lighten the mood a little bit. It worked, and Alex couldn’t help but smile.

“Well...maybe.” Alex laughed, and Reggie gave him a little high-five. Then, he turned to Luke with a cocky smile on his face.

“Told you so, Lukey!” Luke rolled his eyes and playfully swatted at Reggie.

“For the last time, I never argued with you about that! I knew one-hundred percent that Alex was gonna score a date.” Luke tried to keep a straight face as he gestured over to Alex. “After all, look at his irresistible charm!”

The three boys burst out into laughter and ended up hugging, though it was more or less just Alex being squished by Reggie, who was being squished by Luke.

“I love you guys,” Alex mumbled, hugging them both a little tighter. Reggie awwed and Luke exhaled a laugh at that.

“Love you too, bud.”

“We love you, Alex!”

All week long, Alex couldn’t focus on anything other than his date-- meetup with Willie. Just a meetup, yep. Though Luke and Reggie teased him about it non-stop, and eventually even Julie joined in on it.

“Alex,” Luke said, waving a hand in front of Alex’s face. “Earth to Alex, stop daydreaming about your boyfriend for a second so we can practice.”

“Shush, I’m totally paying attention.” Alex lightly pushed Luke’s hand away and rolled his eyes. “And he’s not my boyfriend, by the way.”

“Not yet!” Julie giggled, and Alex couldn’t even pretend to be peeved. Reggie fist-bumped her, saying something about them having the same brain waves, though it was just a lot of nonsense talk.

“Alright, alright. I’m in focus-mode now.” Alex sat up straighter, looking over to Luke. “What were we talking about again?”

“I swear you have the attention span of a goldfish!” Reggie teased, grinning playfully. Luke rolled his eyes and moved forward to ruffle Reggie’s hair, messing it up a little bit.

“Says you, Mister ‘I forget what song we’re singing once we’re halfway through it’,” Luke teased, pulling away and looking down at the new song that the group was putting together.

“ _ Anyway _ , if you dorks are done,” Julie said, standing up from her seat with a dramatic swish of her arms. “Let’s get started!”

Finally, the day was here! Alex was a nervous wreck, fussing over every minute detail of his appearance. It didn’t really help that Luke and Reggie were teasing him about gussying up for his date, and he had to constantly tell them that this wasn’t a date. He totally wished that it was, though.

Willie hadn’t exactly said when they were going to meet up, so Alex got to the museum  _ super _ early. After all, he didn’t want to miss a second of the limited time that they had together. Alex waited for Willie to show up, and he was so excited that he didn’t even care about how many people started flooding into the museum once it opened up. Right now, nothing mattered except for Willie. So he waited.

Alex stayed at the museum from sunrise to almost sunset, but Willie never showed. Did Alex get the day wrong? Or...or did Willie just avoid him? Honestly, the latter seemed like a more plausible reason as to why Willie wasn’t here.

He dejectedly poofed back to the garage and immediately started pacing around. “Did I do something wrong? Does he hate me?” Alex was mumbling to himself, trying to figure out why Willie had stood him up so suddenly. He could feel himself beginning to spiral, and he was really glad that Luke and Reggie had gone out (on their own ‘mini-date’, as Julie had put it) and that Julie was in her house right now.

Alex sat down on the couch, putting his hands over his ears as if that would stop the hateful thoughts from entering his brain. HIs rational thoughts were going unheard, being drowned out by the sheer amount of intrusive thoughts and doubts plaguing his mind, making it hard to think this through logically.

_ He doesn’t love you. _

_ You’re not worth his time. _

_ He regrets ever meeting you. _

It was all too much. Alex couldn’t escape from his anxiety even when he’s  _ dead _ . Just great. So wonderful.

He abruptly stood up and took to pacing again, the monotonous and simple task somewhat calming his nerves. Everything around him felt so big, yet he somehow felt like he was being suffocated in a too-small room. He was gasping for air that he didn’t even need, trying oh so desperately to just  _ calm down _ . When that ultimately failed, he slumped to the ground in defeat.

_ You’re overreacting. _

_ This is why everyone hates you. _

_ You’re too anxious all the time. _

Everything was too overwhelming, too loud, too harsh. No matter how Alex tried to block everything out, though, he couldn’t stop panicking.

“Stop…” He didn’t know why he even said that, since no one was listening. His voice sounded so  _ pathetic _ like he was going to cry.

And cry he did. It couldn’t have been more than half an hour, but it honestly felt like an eternity. Time seemed to pass so slowly whenever he cried, and he hated it.

The garage door opened, but Alex didn’t even register it; Julie hesitantly entered, obviously not expecting to see Alex sitting on the floor while shaking like a leaf in a storm. She didn’t know what to do, so she slowly moved towards Alex, being careful not to startle him too much. She sat down near him, giving him plenty of space so that he didn’t feel too crowded

“Are you okay, Alex?” Julie felt so awful that she didn’t know how to help Alex, and she really wished that Luke or Reggie were here. They’d probably know what to do.

Alex didn’t answer, but he did finally realize that Julie was next to him. This should’ve made him feel better, but he just felt worse; Julie probably thought that he was being overdramatic or a crybaby. He scooted away from her, curling further in on himself so his face was hidden by his knees.

Julie moved away after seeing that Alex needed his space. She stayed with him until Luke and Reggie came back around fifteen minutes later. Alex hadn’t really calmed down much since then, and the two of them were ready to help him.

Luke and Reggie sat down on either side of Alex, making sure not to crowd him. Reggie opened his arms out for a hug, waiting until Alex nodded before hugging him. He always gave the best hugs, so Alex was able to relax a little bit. It helped him remember that he was safe and that people actually did care about him.

Luke slowly and quietly talked about his day, something else that helped Alex calm down. The most simple, mundane things made him feel relaxed, and he’d be embarrassed about it if his friends didn’t reassure him time and time again that it was okay to find comfort in those things.

Now that Luke and Reggie were here, it only took a few minutes and several deep breaths before Alex felt better. He rubbed his eyes to clear his blurry vision, and he focused on the floor. He felt slightly ashamed for some reason, probably because his friends had to see that awful breakdown…

“I’m sorry,” Alex mumbled to no one in particular. He felt like everyone around him deserved an apology for having to witness  _ that _ and having to deal with how much of an ugly mess he was. And they didn’t even know why he even had a panic attack, and he was definitely never going to tell them; what would they think if they knew that the reason he panicked so bad was that his intrusive thoughts said that Willie hated him? They’d think he’s a good-for-nothing lovesick fool that can’t handle rejection.

“Don’t be sorry.” Luke moved closer so he could hug Alex. “You couldn’t help it, Alex. It’s not your fault.”

Alex knew that Luke was right, but post-panic thoughts were always the worst, and they decided that Luke was lying. For the sake of not having another massive breakdown, he kept these thoughts to himself.

Reggie motioned for Julie to come over, so now it was a three-way hug with Alex stuck in the middle. He didn’t mind though, not when being hugged like this reminded him that his friends actually  _ did _ care about him, helping to combat his negative thoughts.

Alex really did have the most amazing friends in the world, didn’t he? They didn’t hesitate to comfort him during his panic attack, and they didn’t ask questions about it or what had triggered it. All they cared about was whether or not he was okay and what they could do to help. If Alex weren’t already dead, he’d gladly die for his friends.

Only once did one of them ask about how Alex’s meet up with Willie went, and his response (or lack thereof) was enough for any conversation of Willie to cease. Push it away to deal with it later seems to be a common theme with Alex and Willie, doesn’t it? 

History really does repeat itself, because even though Alex is surrounded by his best friends, he feels more alone than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sorry lmao <3


	6. The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why did Willie never show up at the museum? Did something happen, or did he completely ditch Alex?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hihi I'm sorry this is so late! I had my wisdom teeth taken out and basically couldn't move for two weeks, so. Yeah. Hope you guys like this chapter! :D  
> Edit: Actually added a chapter title lmao

Willie was on Cloud Nine after leaving Alex. After all, it’s not every day you find out that your crush likes you via a song that he wrote about you, and then said crush kisses you. Willie’s excitement was short-lived once he poofed back to the Ghost Club though; he couldn’t let Caleb see how happy he was or else he’d think that something was up.

“Right on time, William.” Speak of the devil. Or ghost. Well, the devil is also a great way to describe him.

“Hello Caleb,” Willie mumbled under his breath, trying to push past Caleb and leave as fast as possible. It seemed like the universe had other plans, though.

“You sure spent an awful lot of time at that garage, didn’t you?” Caleb smiled his signature wide smile, though it definitely seemed more sinister than friendly. “Approximately half of your time was spent there. Why is that?” Willie knew that there was absolutely  _ no way _ that Caleb knew about Alex and his friends still being alive. It should be easy to lie...right?

“I dunno. I just felt nostalgic, I guess.” That  _ technically _ wasn’t a lie, which is probably the best way to lie to Caleb. After all, Willie wanted to go to the garage because of nostalgia! It wasn’t his fault that Alex was there and performed that song.

“Haven’t you ever heard that lying is a sin, William?” Caleb nonchalantly crossed his arms, and the calm expression on his face sent a chill down Willie’s spine. He’d seen Caleb look like that once before, and he knew that behind that calm facade there was a fury that was ready to explode at the drop of a hat.

“I’m not lying!” Willie dared to look Caleb in the eyes and instantly regretted it; Caleb took that as an invitation to move closer, circling Willie like a vulture waiting for its next meal to die.

“Remember, I practically  _ own  _ you. I know you better than you probably know yourself.” Caleb stopped in front of Willie, leaning in close and looking at Willie like he was a wine stain on a white carpet. “Something happened. Whether you tell me or not is up to you, but I’ll find out either way.”

“Nothing happened, so there’s nothing to tell you.” Willie knew that Caleb was giving him the illusion of choice; Caleb would try to get him to talk until he caved or had to tell another lie, which would just end in disaster. It was scary how easily Caleb could sport Willie’s lies and try to break him.

“Ah. So, we’re playing this game.” Caleb sighed, acting like he didn’t want to do this. In reality, this was probably his plan all along. Caleb was a manipulator, and Willie knew that better than anyone, but he was going to put up with this to protect Alex and his friends. If Caleb knew that they didn’t actually fade away, he’d try to get them to stay here forever as a part of his house band...or worse.

“You are no longer allowed to leave the club.” Caleb watched Willie, looking to see how he reacted to that awful news. Willie couldn’t help how his eyes widened a little bit or how his brows upturned in a mixture of shock and panic.

Caleb seemed more than satisfied with Willie’s reaction. He placed a hand on Willie’s shoulder, gripping it slightly as if to hold him still. “You will be permitted to leave  _ if _ you are honest with me.” Caleb let go and started to walk away, but stopped halfway and turned around. “I’ll know if you’re lying, William.”

With that, Caleb poofed away. Willie was frozen in place, any happiness he had left having dissipated quickly. This  _ couldn’t _ be happening! He didn’t want to believe it… What did he do to end up here?

Willie knew what he did, though. That one mistake, that  _ huge _ mistake that didn’t seem so bad at the time, landed him here. And now Caleb owned his soul and had control over him.  _ Great _ job, past Willie.

He wanted to poof back to Alex so badly, but the consequences outweighed his desires. He had to try to quickly snap out of this since guests were starting to flood into the main room, but it was hard to put on a smile when there was nothing to smile about.

Nonetheless, Willie put on his best fake smile and some more formal attire and got to work. He worked hard, hoping that if he showed Caleb that he could be “obedient” that maybe his punishment would be lessened. Unfortunately, Caleb didn’t budge. In fact, the entire night he made sure to order Willie around more than usual. Willie knew that he was testing him, but he still wanted to scream whenever he heard Caleb’s voice call his name.

After a long night of work, Willie was finally able to poof back to his small room provided by Caleb. When he gave it to Willie, he made it seem like it was a privilege to have that small space, so he would undoubtedly take that away too if Willie acted up again. This was Willie’s private space where Caleb and the club didn’t exist, only Willie’s thoughts.

Right now, he was thinking about Alex. Big surprise there. How on Earth was Willie going to tell him that he couldn’t make it to the museum? He literally couldn’t. There was nothing that Willie could do to better this situation; anything he did would make it a hundred times worse.

He wanted to scream or break something. If only he wasn’t such an  _ idiot _ . If he hadn’t spent so much time out, Caleb wouldn’t have gotten suspicious and none of this would’ve happened! But he also would never have gotten to see Alex, and hug him, and  _ kiss _ him...the pros definitely outweigh the cons, but honestly not by much.

Willie paced around his tiny room, desperately trying to come up with a plan,  _ any  _ plan, to get out of Caleb’s grasp. Of course, he came up empty-handed. After all, how can you combat someone who quite literally owns your soul and can make you disappear with a flick of the wrist? You can’t.

“This is hopeless” Willie mumbled to himself as he plopped down on the floor in defeat, putting his head in his hands. “I’ll never see him again…”

Somehow, this felt  _ so much _ worse than when Willie thought Alex had faded away; back then, he thought that there was no way he could ever see Alex again, but now that he has…it’s so infuriating. Having Alex so close yet so far away at the same time was heart-wrenching, and the punishment that Willie would receive if he left was too severe to try and risk it.

Willie was trapped. There was absolutely no getting out of this one. He messed up big time, but he dug his grave, and now he has to lie in it.


	7. Operation: Ghost Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex voices his concerns about Willie never showing up for their (not) date, and his friends try to help him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this has taken so long!! I've been planning a *lot* for how I want this story to end, and I wanted to have the remaining chapters all planned out before I posted again. :)

In the following week, Alex was a complete mess. It was similar to how he had been before, just a lot worse. He was blaming himself too, as much as his friends tried to reassure him that none of this was his fault. He hated that he had become such an anxious mess, but his intrusive thoughts were working overtime to make him overthink to the nines.

Every day, he would return to the museum on the off chance that he had just gotten the date wrong and Willie would be there. He knew that Willie wouldn’t be there, but he was somehow let down every time he came back empty handed. It was disheartening, and he really did think that he had said something that made Willie not want to come. Overthinking was a curse that he had to bear with.

Whenever Alex did show up to their little mini-rehearsals, he wasn’t himself. He was constantly looking out of the windows of the garage door, almost as if he was hoping to catch a glimpse of Willie. Nobody told him to stop, though. He wasn’t hurting anyone, so what was the harm in him not giving his fullest attention to rehearsal? It’s not like they were going to be performing for crowds any time soon.

Once the second week of Alex’s constant panic rolled around, his friends knew that it was about time that they try to have an actual talk with him about it. After some deliberation and debating, they finally settled on scheduling a fake rehearsal, and instead of rehearsing, they were going to sit Alex down and ask him what exactly was wrong. They knew that this had something to do with Willie, given Alex’s response to being asked about him, but they weren’t absolutely certain.

-

“Hey, where’s you guys’ instruments?” Alex asked as soon as he stepped inside the garage. He thought that it was pretty fishy that they were having rehearsal, yet none of their instruments were out.

“Sit down, Alex.” Julie motioned to a chair across from the couch, while she, Luke, and Reggie sat on said couch. Alex realized that this was a trap, and he had fallen right for it.

“Is this gonna start becoming a thing?” He asked, referring to the whole ‘cornering him and questioning him about stuff’ thing. “Because I don’t like it. Let’s not do this…”

“Well, something’s obviously wrong Alex, and we want to help.” Julie reached out to take his hand, and her face fell when he pulled away. “Please, Alex. You know that we’re here for you, no matter what. You can talk to us about anything.”

Alex really did want to tell them, but that little voice at the back of his head kept saying that they would think that he was just overreacting. The voice drilled this ideology into him, and it honestly did terrify him to open up to his friends, even though he knew deep down that they wouldn’t make fun of him. His anxiety just absolutely loved to make him think that his friends were against him, didn’t it?

“It’s…” Alex was trying to find the right words, which was much harder than he expected it to be. “I know that this is gonna sound dumb, but it’s about Willie again.” He was expecting a sigh, or an eyeroll at least, so he was surprised when he was met with genuine concern from his friends. 

“What’s up? Did something happen with him?” None of them knew that Willie had never shown at the museum; Alex had been adamant about not talking about the museum ever since he had a panic attack about it.

“When we were supposed to meet up at the museum last week, he never showed up.” That got a reaction from all of them. Julie looked worried, Luke looked angry, and Reggie was a mixture of both. “I-I don’t know why, he seemed fine the other day, but he just...didn’t show up.”

Alex took a shaky breath, trying to calm himself down. He shouldn’t even be getting worked up over this, but his mind was going through the worst possible scenarios again. His friends gave him his time, waiting for the rest of the story before jumping to conclusions. Once Alex was certain that he could continue without bursting into tears, he kept on going.

“I’ve been going back to the museum all this week, that’s why I’ve been gone so much. He’s never there though, and I’m honestly pretty worried.” Alex’s leg had started bouncing on its own, and he didn’t care to stop it at this point. “I’m so- I’m afraid that something bad might’ve happened to him. A-and I keep thinking about the worst things that could have happened, which I know is bad, but still. L-like, what if Caleb’s done something?” His voice came out much more quiet than he would have liked, which was embarrassing.

“You might actually be onto something…” Luke frowned, his brows furrowing slightly. “I mean, based on what you said, Willie should have, and would have, absolutely shown up. I wouldn’t be surprised if Caleb did something, honestly.” Reggie nodded along with what Luke was saying.

“Okay, but if that is the case, then what can we even do? I’d just never get to see him again and never get any closure.” Alex sighed and got up from his chair, and nobody stopped him. He started pacing around, which was another nervous habit of his. “This is just… this is so- so  _ unfair _ .” Alex mentally cringed at how childish he sounded right now, but this whole situation really was unfair. If Caleb truly was behind this, Alex would have more than a few choice words to say to him.

“Maybe we could…” Luke trailed off, seemingly debating with himself on whether or not to voice his idea. He stood up as well, moving a little ways away from the couch. “This is gonna sound crazy, but what if we tried to sneak into the Ghost Club?”

“Woah woah woah!” Julie exclaimed, holding her hands out towards Luke, gesturing for him to stop talking. “That  _ does _ sound crazy, because it is! You really want to go back to the guy that literally wanted to suck away your life force? Let’s think about this for a second.”

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Julie did have a point. Instead of jumping the gun and possibly going into a dangerous situation, they should take a second to think of some other solutions that would be less risky. Alex went and sat back down, but Luke remained standing.

“Okay, so what would you suggest we do?” Luke obviously hadn’t meant for it to come out as bitter as it did, given his apologetic facial expression. “Sorry,” he mumbled afterwards.

“You’re good. I’m just saying, that idea is  _ super _ dangerous. You could get yourselves killed if you get caught.” Julie sighed and clasped her hands together in her lap. “I get that this is important, finding out about Willie, but please try not to put your lives on the line without coming up with a proper plan.”

“So...what you’re saying is that you’re not  _ completely _ against us going into the club again?” Reggie, who had been silent most of the conversation, finally spoke up. Julie was quiet for a second, then she nodded.

“No, I’m not completely against it. You guys just need to come up with an actual plan instead of running in blind.” She fidgeted in her seat, looking slightly uncomfortable. “It wouldn’t be good if you tried to get in and immediately got caught…”

“Well, let’s come up with a plan!” Alex was more hyped up now that there was a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel for him. His friends were actually willing to help him find out what happened to Willie, even if- no, don’t think about that. Stay positive, like always.

So, they all sat down and tried to come up with a  _ safe _ plan to get the boys inside of the Ghost Club. They debated the pros and cons of what could happen (the cons greatly outweighing the pros), and they eventually had to take a break from planning. It took a couple of days before they were able to come up with something that seemed at least semi-safe.

The plan was that the four of them would attempt to sneak into the Ghost Club. They decided that Julie should tag along just in case, and because since she was human she wouldn’t be affected by anything Caleb did. At least, that’s what they were hoping for. Once they were inside, they would try to find Willie and get him out of there. ‘Try’ is really the key word in all of this, because they weren’t even sure if this was going to work.

Over the next few days, Julie was tasked with scouting around the club to try and find a good entrance for them. She wasn’t able to see it at first, but once the boys pointed it out to her, she could see it clear as day. It took a while, but she was finally able to spot a door in the back that seemed like nobody ever used it.

“Are we sure that we should do this?” Reggie had asked the day before they were set to leave. His voice had a hint of doubt in it, and he looked worried. “I mean, I know that we probably could do it, but what if...what if things go downhill..?”

The possibility of things going wrong was very real, and it terrified all of them. Especially Julie, since she had already had to go through the pain of thinking that the boys were gone for good once before. They could always poof away if things got bad though, but Julie would have to high-tail it out of there. Hopefully Julie wouldn’t be affected by any ghost powers since she was mortal, and that’s what they were banking on.

-

Finally, the day was here. Alex and his friends were actually going to try and break into the Ghost Club and find Willie! Well, ‘break in’ might be the wrong phrasing, but it has the same energy.

Everyone was as nervous as they could be, especially since something might go wrong. As a back-up plan, Julie asked Flynn to come with them. She wouldn’t go in, of course, but she would be one text or phone call away in case things started going south.

There, right in front of Alex, was the horrible place that he and his band mates had almost gotten trapped in for eternity. It sent chills down his spine, and he almost didn’t want to go in. But he remembered that he was doing this to find Willie, and he would do anything for Willie. Maybe that made him weak, but he’d be weak any day if it meant that he could have closure on what happened to Willie.

Around the back was a small door, just like Julie said there was. They entered through there, even though the boys could poof in; it would be better if they stuck together, just to be on the safe side.

It looked like they entered through a staff door, because they were in a long, dark hallway. Nobody was there, so they were free to explore. It almost seemed deserted, but they knew that Caleb was probably just hosting one of his gatherings in the main room. There was faint music playing from one end of the hallway, so they headed down the other end. Silence hung heavy in the air, nobody wanting to talk out of fear of being discovered.

Eventually, they reached a crossroads. On the left, there was a staircase that led up to who knows where, and on the right the dark hallway just continued. After some hushed conversation, it was decided that they would split up, as much as they were against it. Julie and Alex would go up the stairs, and Reggie and Luke would go down the hallway. The plan was to meet up back where they started in twenty minutes and to go looking for the other group if they didn’t return.

Alex and Julie carefully ascended the stairs, making sure not to make too much noise. It was easier said than done, seeing as this building was ancient and the stairs were creaky. Despite that, they made it to the top of the stairs without any problems.

“It’s just...a bunch of rooms,” Julie pointed out. It looked like a hallway full of hotel rooms, just much smaller. There were nameplates on some of the doors, but not on others. There was one name that caught Alex’s eye, though.

“This says ‘William’ on it.” Alex stood in front of the door, his heart practically pounding out of his chest. “Do you think..?”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Julie gestured towards the door. “You can poof in, right? If I open it, it might be too loud.”

Alex nodded, though he didn’t move yet. What if Willie was really here? That would be amazing, but what if he didn’t want to see Alex, and that was the real reason that he never showed up? Then this whole mission would have been for nothing.

After a little more prompting from Julie, Alex found the courage to poof into the room. He landed on the floor with a thud, having miscalculated the landing by a little bit. It was embarrassing enough already, but it was even more embarrassing when he looked up and locked eyes with none other than Willie. ”So...you come here often?” 

Smooth, Alex. Real smooth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!! The cliffhanger was...interesting.  
> This fic's starting to come to an end, but...the story won't be ending. ;)  
> Also, here's a playlist that I made for this fic! (it does have an explicit song or two in it, be warned) https://open.spotify.com/playlist/06RjkPOcUUEcq4k0hzRUT5?si=k4V-1VtST4-z8t-zvy8jYQ


	8. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Willie didn't expect to see Alex appear in his room, and he certainly didn't expect for a rescue mission to be taking place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to hopefully make up for the long wait between chapters, i made this chapter really fluffy and cute instead of painful and angsty <3

When Alex all of the sudden appeared in Willie’s room, he very nearly burst into tears on the spot. And he kind of did, as much as he tried to stop it. He wasted no time in surging forward to hug Alex tightly, almost too tightly, as if he were afraid that Alex would disappear if he let go.

“Why are you here?” Willie finally managed to ask, though his question was muffled in the fabric of Alex’s shirt. He definitely wasn’t mad that Alex was here, but he was nervous; how did he get here? Did Caleb know, or was he about to find out? A sense of dread was hanging over him, but right now all he wanted to do was melt into Alex’s embrace.

“To save you, duh.” Alex pulled away, as much as Willie didn’t want him to. “C’mon, Julie’s waiting outside. We gotta meet back up with Reg and Luke.”

“Wait wait wait,” Willie put his hands up in a ‘time-out’ gesture. “If I leave, Caleb will know. He- he’ll know that you guys are still here, and then we’ll all be screwed.” Willie shook his head. “I don’t want to put you in danger.”

“We’ll deal with him when it comes to it. I...I can’t be without you again, Willie,” Alex said stubbornly. “Please, come with us. I can’t force you to, though. Whatever decision you make, I’ll be fine with it.”

Willie really did want to go with Alex. Things were just better when he was around. But he didn’t want Alex or his friends to be in danger because of him, especially because they just somehow broke into the Ghost Club to get him out of it.

“I…” Willie hesitated, trying to outweigh his own selfish desires versus his friends’ safety. He would love nothing more than to leave this god-forsaken place and retreat to the safety and comfort of Alex, but he knew that that safety could be shattered in an instant when Caleb found out about it. “I don’t know, Alex…”

Alex looked dejected, but he tried to cover it up with a strained smile. “Are you sure? We can handle Caleb if that’s what you’re worried about. We have a plan and everything!”

“You guys lost against Caleb last time, though!” Willie hadn’t meant to say it like that, but he couldn’t take it back once he said it. “I mean...I just don’t want to see you get hurt because of me again. I’ve hurt you enough.”

“That wasn’t your fault, Willie. Please, you have to understand that.” Alex reached forward and held Willie’s hand, squeezing it gently. “We came here to get you, to help you get out of this. The consequences don’t matter, what matters right now is that you’re safe. Will you come with us?”

Willie wanted this. He wanted to accept, to run away from the bad choices he made that led him to be trapped in the club. “...Okay,” he whispered, looking up at Alex with a small smile on his face. “I’ll come.”

That’s all that Alex needed to hear. He poofed the two of them out of Willie’s room, and they reappeared next to Julie. No explanation of what happened was needed, and they all descended the stairs to meet back up with Reggie and Luke. They waited for the others for a few minutes, and they started to get worried when they didn’t show up.

“Should we go after them?” Julie peered down the long hallway that the boys had gone down. It seemed to go on forever, undoubtedly a result of the magic that Caleb poured into the building.

“I think so. Let’s just stick together.” Alex led the way, still holding Willie’s hand. It made him feel safe, even though they were doing something that was probably the farthest thing from safe.

The three of them slowly made their way down the hallway. Willie knew the ins and outs of the place, and he could tell that something seemed off. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it just seemed too quiet…That silence was quickly broken by a yelp of surprise; Reggie and Luke had turned the corner and had run head-first into Alex.

“Sorry!” Reggie apologized and backed up. “We couldn’t find him- oh, hey Willie.” Willie politely waved, and Alex started ushering them all towards the exit.

“C’mon, we gotta get out of here,” he whisper-shouted as he speed-walked down the hallway.

“Why don’t we just poof away?” Willie asked, nearly tripping over Reggie, who had tripped over his own two feet.

“I can’t do that,” she said, making a ‘poof’ motion with her hands. “So, yeah. I’d prefer not to be stuck alone in a weird ghost club place, thank you very much!”

They quickly reached the exit and filed out. Flynn was waiting for them, and she pulled Julie into a tight hug when she saw her. The boys poofed away to the garage so they could get as far away as possible from the Ghost Club.

“...Did that really just happen?” Willie was in shock that their plan had actually worked. He knew that he wasn’t free from Caleb and that he’d probably come looking for him, but at least for the time being he was away from him. It was exhilarating to know that he had freedom, at least for now.

“Heck yeah, it did!” Alex turned to him, a huge smile on his face. He hugged Willie tightly, and it would probably have hurt if he were still human. Willie hugged him back, not wanting to let go in case this really was some weird dream he was having.

It was perfect, just the two of them in their own little world. Reggie and Luke had left at some point so they could have their alone time., but Willie didn’t even notice that they were gone. Nothing else but Alex mattered right now, and it was like he had tunnel-vision. Willie closed his eyes and finally relaxed for the first time in ages. He felt safe enough to let his guard down since Alex was with him.

“I’m glad that worked,” Alex mumbled, pulling away from their hug after a few moments. “I mean, I was pretty confident it would work anyway, but I’m just really glad that you’re here and okay, and that nothing bad has happened yet-”

“You’re rambling again,” Willie teased light-heartedly, which made Alex blush in embarrassment. He sighed quietly, a small smile on his face.

“Sorry, I’m just really happy. I just…” He trailed off, contemplating the right words to say. He eventually gave up on that in favor of moving closer so he could gently kiss Willie’s cheek. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, hotdog.” Willie smiled, and Alex rolled his eyes.

“Still with the nickname? You do remember that that’s how I died right?” Alex hesitantly put his arms around Willie’s neck in an attempt to be closer to him. Willie was surprised that Alex made the first move this time, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around Alex’s waist.

“Yeah, but you gotta admit that it’s a pretty good nickname. And besides, you love it.” Willie looked up at Alex, feeling like he was falling in love with him all over again. He never thought that he’d be able to see Alex again, but here he was. He was safe for now, away from anything that could hurt him. Alex had his back, and he had Alex’s. 

“I don’t love that nickname, but you know what I do love?” Alex leaned down to peck Wille on the lips, and now it was Willie’s turn to blush. “I love you, you dork.”

Willie smiled and leaned in to actually kiss Alex. This still seemed surreal, and Willie was afraid that at any moment he would wake up from this wonderful dream and be faced with his depressing reality, though he knew that this was definitely real. 

The fear at the back of his mind that this would all be taken away in an instant was there as well, though he tried to ignore that for now. He wanted to live in the present instead of worrying about the future for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment / kudos if you enjoyed! :D


End file.
